Legal Education

Chapter Outline

Law School Applicants and Enrollees

Why Law School?

Law School Demographics

Employment after Graduation

Bar Passage Rates

Bar Passage Rates - Race, Ethnicity and Gender

Law School Debt

Law School Applicants and Enrollees

For the fourth straight year, enrollment was up in 2021 at U.S. law schools accredited by the American Bar Association. That was a rebound after seven years of declining enrollment from 2010 to 2017.

The number of students pursuing juris doctor degrees hit 117,305 in 2021 – the highest number since 2014. That was an increase of 2,981 students (or 2.4%) over the previous year. Still, it was far below the peak of 147,525 enrolled law school students in 2010.

Fast Fact:

• The average law school applicant applies to nearly seven law schools – 6.8 per student, to be exact.

Law School Enrollment: 1970 - 2021 *

* Enrollment for 1970-2013 includes all students, but for 2014 to present only JD students

An additional 21,044 students were in non-JD programs in U.S. law schools, pursuing master of law degrees and other degrees, as well as certificates. Participation in these non-JD programs has boomed in recent years, increasing 76% from 2014, when there were 11,973 students.

Applications to law schools rose significantly in 2021, with 71,112 students applying to law schools – an increase of 12% from 2020, according to the Law School Admission Council. Even so, the number of applicants was still far below the peak year of 2004, when more than 100,000 people applied to ABA-accredited law schools.

Roughly two-thirds (68.3%) of all applicants were accepted to at least one law school. The acceptance rate declined slightly in the past year, from 69.6% in 2020.

Source: ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar / Law School Admission Council

Law School Applicants: 2000 - 2021

Why Law School?

More students pursue law degrees because of their interest in public service than for high salaries, according to a 2018 national survey, “Before the JD,” conducted by the Association of American Law Schools and co-sponsored by the ABA Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar

The survey evaluated responses from 22,189 undergraduates at 25 four-year institutions and from 2,727 first-year law students at 44 law schools.

The most commonly cited reasons for attending law school were as a path to careers in politics, government or public service (44%); a passion for that type of work (42%); an opportunity to be helpful (35%), and to advocate for social change (32%). About 1 in 3 students (31%) said they were motivated by access to high-paying jobs.

Most students did not enter law school immediately after college. Two-thirds (65%) delayed law school for a year or more, compared to 1 in 3 (35%) who enrolled directly after college. Of those who postponed law school, just over half (53%) waited three years or more after getting their undergraduate degree.

More than half (55%) of the law students reported that they first considered going to law school before their first year of college. Roughly one-third (35%) first considered pursuing law school before high school.

Source: Association of American Law Schools ”Before the JD” report

Fast Facts:

• Students with higher LSAT scores were more likely to delay law school (74%) than students with lower scores (58%).

• Asian and Black students were more likely to delay law school (73% and 71%) than Hispanic and white students (69% and 64%).

Why Do Undergraduates Aspire to Go to Law School?

Law School Demographics

Most students at ABA-accredited law schools in 2021 were women – and the gap between the number of men and women law students grew wider for the fifth straight year.

For decades, law school students were overwhelmingly white and male, but the gender gap began to narrow markedly after 1970. That year, 91% of all law students were men. The gap came close to vanishing in 2001 and 2002, when women were 49% of all law students, but then widened again.

In 2014, for the first time, there were more first-year female students than male students. Two years later, in 2016, women made up a majority of all law students at ABA-accredited schools for the first time. That year, 50.3% of all students pursuing JD degrees were female.

Law School Enrollment by Gender: 1970 - 2021

In 2021, 55.3% of all students at ABA-accredited law schools were women. In raw numbers, for the 2021-22 academic year, there were 12,803 more women JD students than men – 64,861 women and 52,058 men. An additional 378 students said they were neither male nor female.

In fact, men are increasingly turning away from law schools while women are increasingly drawn to them. The number of men in ABA-accredited law schools has declined every year in the past 11 years -- from 78,516 in 2010 to 52,058 in 2021. Meanwhile, the number of women has increased each of the past five years – from 55,766 in 2016 to 64,861 in 2021.

Meanwhile, law school classes have become gradually more diverse by race and ethnicity. In 2011, 25% of all law students were students of color. A decade later, in 2021, roughly one-third of all students pursuing a JD degree (32%) were students of color.

The demographic change is more dramatic when considering first-year law students over the past four decades. Back in 1978, students of color occupied just 9% of first-year law school seats. In 2021, that number was three times larger: 33%. Among all 1L’s in 2021, 13% were Hispanic, 8% Black, 7% Asian American, 4% multiracial. An additional 7% were classified as race unknown or other.

Source: ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar

Recent Law School Enrollment by Gender

Men: 11 straight years of decline in law school enrollment.
Women: 5 straight years of increasing enrollment in law school.

Law Students by Race and Ethnicity: 2021

Employment After Graduation

Unemployment among new law school graduates fell to the lowest level in at least a decade in 2021, according to data compiled by the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

For the law school Class of 2021, unemployment 10 months after graduation dropped three percentage points to 5.3%. A year earlier, unemployment 10 months after graduation for the Class of 2020 stood at 8.3%.

Also for the first time in at least a decade, more than half of all new law school graduates were working at law firms 10 months after graduation. That number has been climbing steadily over the past 10 years. For the Class of 2012, it was 39.3%. For the Class of 2021, it was 50.6%.

On the other hand, the number of new law graduates getting jobs in the business sector has been falling. For the Class of 2014, more than 15% worked in businesses 10 months after graduation. For the Class of 2021, it was 10%.

In almost every other sector, the numbers held roughly steady. For example, 1 in 10 graduates from the Class of 2021 (10.4%) took government jobs – up slightly from 10.2% a year earlier. It was nearly the same (10%) a decade ago.

Law School Graduates Unemployed 10 Months After Graduation: Class of 2012-2021

For several years, judicial clerkships grew more popular as first jobs out of law school, but that number declined for the Class of 2020 and remained lower for the Class of 2021. Nearly 1 out of 10 graduates in the Class of 2021 (9.6%) took a clerkship after graduation.

Meanwhile, the number of graduates who went into solo practice straight out of law school continued to decline. Less than 1% of all 2021 grads (0.7%) took the solo route. A decade ago, 2.3% of the Class of 2012 practiced solo – a small number but triple the current rate.

Source: ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar

Fast Fact:

• Three-quarters of new lawyers got jobs requiring bar passage within 10 months of graduation in 2021: 75.6%.

Where Law School Graduates Work 10 Months After Graduation:
Classes of 2012-2021

Bar Passage Rates

The bar exam passage rate dipped slightly in 2021, after two straight rising years, according to the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which develops the test and collects data from the states.

Among first-time test-takers, nearly 3 out of 4 (74%) passed the bar exam in 2021. That’s the highest passage rate since 2014, except for 2020, when 76% passed the exam. The highest passage rate in recent years was 82% in 2008. The lowest was 69% in 2016 and 2018.

The number of people taking the exam for the first time rebounded in 2021, to the highest level in three years. First-time test-takers rose 13% in 2021 to 45,195, after dropping nearly 10% in 2020, most likely because of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Fast Facts:

• Forty-eight people who took the bar exam in 2021 skipped law school and studied at law offices, which is allowed in a few states. Nearly half (23) were from Washington state. Nationwide, just 40% of those who studied in law offices passed the exam. (California did not report data in this category.)

• The vast majority of test-takers in 2021 (85%) went to ABA-accredited law schools.

First-Time Bar Passage Rates: 2008 - 2021

Number of People Taking the Bar Exam for the First Time: 2016 - 2021

Bar Passage Rates for First-Time Test-Takers and Repeaters: 2021

Bar Passage Rates by Type of Legal Education: 2021

As usual, there was a significant difference in passage rates between first-time test-takers and repeat test-takers in 2021. Among first-timers, 74% passed the bar exam. Among repeaters, only 28% passed. There were more than twice as many first-time test-takers as repeaters in 2021 (45,195 versus 19,638).

Passage rates also varied widely based on where test-takers learned the law. The passage rate for all test-takers from ABA-accredited schools — both first-timers and repeaters — was 66% in 2021. Just 25% of students who attended non-accredited law schools passed the bar.

There was also a significant difference in passage rates among the 50 states. In 2021, Utah had the highest passage rate among first-time test-takers at 90%. West Virginia had the lowest passage rate at 60%.

State size doesn’t seem to have any relation to passage rate. New York, with nearly 8,000 first-time bar exam takers, the most in the country, had a passage rate of 76% — slightly higher than the national 74% rate. But California, second in the nation with more than 6,000 first-time test-takers, had one of the lowest passage rates at 67%.

Source: National Conference of Bar Examiners

States with HIGHEST and LOWEST Passing Rates: 2021

Bar Passage Rates- Race, Ethnicity and Gender

To comply with ABA standards, a law school must show that three-quarters of its graduating class passes the bar exam within two years. In the most recent study, white test-takers in 2021 were more likely to pass than test-takers of other races and ethnicities, according to the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

Among white graduates taking the exam for the first time, 85% passed in 2021. By comparison, 61% of Black first-time test-takers passed, 72% of Hispanics, 70% of Native Americans and 79% of Asians. Among all first-time test-takers of color, the passage rate was 71%.

The gap narrows over time. For the Class of 2019, 94% of white test-takers ultimately passed the exam within two years of graduation, as did 81% of Blacks, 87% of Hispanics, 89% of Asians and 89% of Native Americans.

There was a small difference in bar passage rates between men and women in 2021: 82% of men passed the exam on the first try, as did 79% of women.

Source: ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar

2021 Bar Passage Rates by Race and Ethnicity for First-Time Test-Takers

Ultimate Bar Passage Rate by Race and Ethnicity: Class of 2019

Law School Debt

Many new lawyers postpone major life decisions like marriage, having children and buying houses, or reject them outright, because they carry huge student loan debts. Those debts make many young lawyers anxious, depressed and regretful.

Those are the conclusions of a 2021 survey by the ABA Young Lawyers Division and AccessLex. The survey of more than 1,300 new lawyers – most in their 20s and 30s – showed that student loan debt forces the newest generation of lawyers to make major financial, personal and career sacrifices.

Nearly all law school graduates are affected. More than 90% of the lawyers surveyed took out law school loans. Their average total education debt upon graduation – money owed from law school, undergraduate school and other education expenses – was $120,000.

For many young lawyers, student debt actually increases over time. More than a quarter (27%) said they have more debt now than when they graduated from law school. The median current debt at the time of the survey was $100,000.

How Stressed Do You Feel About Your Personal Finances in General?

Participants said heavy student loan debt affected virtually every aspect of their lives, including:

Having children: More than one-third (39%) said they postponed or decided not to have children because of their debts. That was especially true for Asian lawyers (48%) and white lawyers (42%).

Getting married: More than 1 in 4 (27%) said they postponed or decided not to get married because of their debts. That was especially true for white and Asian lawyers (both 39%).

Housing: More than half (52%) said they postponed or decided not to buy a house because of their debts. That was especially true for Asian lawyers (64%) and Black lawyers (60%).

Transportation: Nearly one-third (31%) said they postponed or decided not to buy a car because of their debt. That was especially true for Hispanic lawyers (35%).

Career: More than half (55%) said salary factored more heavily in their job selection than they anticipated when they began law school. One-third (33%) said they took a job that is less focused on public service or doing good than they intended when they began law school because of debt.

The survey also found that student loan debt is hurting the mental health of young lawyers. Among the survey’s findings:

Nearly two-thirds (65%) said student loan debts made them feel anxious or stressed in the last month.

More than half (53%) felt regretful or guilty.

Nearly half (44%) felt depressed or hopeless.

Nearly two-thirds (65%) said they felt overwhelming or high stress about their personal finances in general.

In spite of the findings, a strong majority (61%) said they would still get a J.D. degree knowing what they know now, and most (55%) said they would attend the same law school. However, less than half (47%) agreed with the statement “My law school education was worth the cost.” And only 1 in 5 (22%) said they were happy with the loan counseling they received before graduation.

Source: ABA Young Lawyers Division and AccessLex, 2021 Student Loan Debt Survey

How Law School Debt Affected
Major Life Decisions